Asphalt tile removal

I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to
the original hardwood. The original hardwood is in
pretty good shape. But! When I took the carpet out of
the coat closet I found that at one time or another
somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I
tried lifting a piece and it looks like I can get the
tile up fairly easy. But then there will be that black
mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?

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Guest

"I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to
the original hardwood. The original hardwood is in
pretty good shape. But! When I took the carpet out of
the coat closet I found that at one time or another
somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I
tried lifting a piece and it looks like I can get the
tile up fairly easy. But then there will be that black
mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?
Thanks for any help. "

Before you do anything, consider the possibility that if it's old floor
tile, there is
a good chance it contains asbestos. You can do a web search and find
info
on proper ways of dealing with it. Left alone, it's not a problem, but
if you want
to remove it, you need to follow some basic safety procedures. If you
can simply
go over it with new flooring, that IMO, is the simplest and best
solution.

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"Bill Gill" <> wrote in message
news:AHOxf.8207$Dh.1934@dukeread04...
>I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to the original
>hardwood. The original hardwood is in pretty good shape. But! When I took
>the carpet out of the coat closet I found that at one time or another
>somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I tried lifting a
>piece and it looks like I can get the tile up fairly easy. But then there
>will be that black mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
>that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Bill Gill

warm it slightly and more will come up. there are chemicals which will turn
it into a goo that can be scraped off, but anyway you do this, it'll be a
lot of work.

Scrape the heavy stuff off with a large putty knife, then can try kerosene,
or a solvent based cleaner, or waterless hand soap.

"Bill Gill" <> wrote in message
news:AHOxf.8207$Dh.1934@dukeread04...
> I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to
> the original hardwood. The original hardwood is in
> pretty good shape. But! When I took the carpet out of
> the coat closet I found that at one time or another
> somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I
> tried lifting a piece and it looks like I can get the
> tile up fairly easy. But then there will be that black
> mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
> that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> Bill Gill

Guest

On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:21:58 -0600, Bill Gill <>
wrote:
>I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to
>the original hardwood. The original hardwood is in
>pretty good shape. But! When I took the carpet out of
>the coat closet I found that at one time or another
>somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I
>tried lifting a piece and it looks like I can get the
>tile up fairly easy. But then there will be that black
>mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
>that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?
>
>Thanks for any help.
>
>Bill Gill

Having worked for a flooring company for several years, you already
did the hard part, getting the tiles off.

Ignore the comments about asbestos. You said ASPHALT tile, not vinyl
asbestos, correct?
Yes, I know you did, because it was glued with asphalt tile adhesive.
Basically TAR.

However, I hate to tell you this. You will never get all that tar off
and be able to get a decent looking wood floor. It's between the
boards and will gum up every sandpaper and spread like crazy. You are
lucky though. It's just a closet. Put new vinyl or tile on it and
refisish your other floors. It's just a closet, it dont need to
match. Besides you can always get some woodgrain vinyl that will
match, and put a metal bar across the doorway to prevent kicking up
the edge of the new vinyl. If you MUST have a finished hardwood, you
may as well replace the boards in that closet. But in my opinion,
thats too much work for a mere closet

wrote:
> On Fri, 13 Jan 2006 08:21:58 -0600, Bill Gill <>
> wrote:
>
>
>>I am taking up the carpet in my house and going back to
>>the original hardwood. The original hardwood is in
>>pretty good shape. But! When I took the carpet out of
>>the coat closet I found that at one time or another
>>somebody put down some ugly green asphalt tile in it. I
>>tried lifting a piece and it looks like I can get the
>>tile up fairly easy. But then there will be that black
>>mastic left on the floor. Is there any good way to get
>>that stuff up so I can do something with the floor?
>>
>>Thanks for any help.
>>
>>Bill Gill
>
>
> Having worked for a flooring company for several years, you already
> did the hard part, getting the tiles off.
>
> Ignore the comments about asbestos. You said ASPHALT tile, not vinyl
> asbestos, correct?
> Yes, I know you did, because it was glued with asphalt tile adhesive.
> Basically TAR.
>
> However, I hate to tell you this. You will never get all that tar off
> and be able to get a decent looking wood floor. It's between the
> boards and will gum up every sandpaper and spread like crazy. You are
> lucky though. It's just a closet. Put new vinyl or tile on it and
> refisish your other floors. It's just a closet, it dont need to
> match. Besides you can always get some woodgrain vinyl that will
> match, and put a metal bar across the doorway to prevent kicking up
> the edge of the new vinyl. If you MUST have a finished hardwood, you
> may as well replace the boards in that closet. But in my opinion,
> thats too much work for a mere closet
Thanks for the information. I was kind of afraid that
was what would happen. My fall back idea was to do just
what you suggested. I will try to find a wood grain
vinyl tile that will be a fairly close match to the
floor and put the trim strip across the door.

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